Francis Cummins hopes the cavalry is coming as Bradford Bulls coach stresses need for new blood

Francis Cummins could not fault the effort of his players as the Bulls fought bravely before slipping to a narrow 22-18 defeat at Widnes.

In their first match since Marc Green bought the club from administrator David Wilson, Bradford were outscored by four tries to three.

But they pushed a high-flying Widnes outfit every step of the way after Brett Kearney’s superb 67th-minute try cut the gap to four points to set up a grandstand finish.

Head coach Cummins said: “A lot has gone on this week and it’s nice to know the club is secured.

“But it didn’t take the focus off today’s game and what we were trying to do, which was come here and get a win.

“The effort was there again for us and to be honest it’s been there all season and since we’ve been in administration.

“The players worked really hard today and if we could have shown a bit more composure then maybe the result might have been different.

“We are just lacking a little bit of quality sometimes but I couldn’t ask for any more effort.”

Cummins said the search for players was ongoing but he confirmed that Liam Sutcliffe would return to Leeds today following the end of his month-long loan spell at Odsal.

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The Bulls coach said: “There are things going on and we need some cavalry to help us out numbers-wise.

“We need to recruit because you can’t play the game with three props and one of them is a back-rower. We lacked composure at times but we had chances to win it and showed some really good skill.”

Cummins also paid tribute to Kearney following his excellent attacking display which saw him score a superb second-half try.

“Brett Kearney was excellent for us,” he said. “He’s scored a great try and he’s got the skill-set of a half-back and he really showed what he was about.

“He’s doesn’t react that well to this surface and he will probably be missing for the next three days but he’s in a really good bit of form.”

Widnes coach Denis Betts paid tribute to Cummins and believes he is due more credit for the job he is doing with a club wracked by their off-field adversity.

“I was really impressed with Bradford and the way the approached the game,” he said.

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“The amount of anxiety that Francis Cummins has had to cope with since he took charge and what they’re going through at the moment, it’s a credit to how hard he’s worked there that they still turned up and had a bit of a dig. He deserves a lot of praise for how hard he’s worked in such an anxious environment.”

* The Bulls Under-19s lost 32-18 at Widnes in yesterday’s curtain-raiser, with half-backs Adam Brook and Macauley Barron (2) scoring the tries for Richard Tunningley’s men.

how about this for an idea build the biggest/strongest fittest team superleague has ever seen.just imagine teams may fear playing the bulls again.in rugby league size matters

how about this for an idea build the biggest/strongest fittest team superleague has ever seen.just imagine teams may fear playing the bulls again.in rugby league size matterstuono 59

how about this for an idea build the biggest/strongest fittest team superleague has ever seen.just imagine teams may fear playing the bulls again.in rugby league size matters

Score: -3

bully4us says...9:23am Mon 31 Mar 14

For goodness sake never reply to that fool at the top. It makes his boring day if you do. Ignoring them is the best way.

For goodness sake never reply to that fool at the top. It makes his boring day if you do.
Ignoring them is the best way.bully4us

For goodness sake never reply to that fool at the top. It makes his boring day if you do. Ignoring them is the best way.

Score: 17

THEMANOFSTEEL says...11:21am Mon 31 Mar 14

Has anybody else noticed? we now have 11 days until we play the next Super League game this is enough time to bring in new recruits and get them trained and playing part of the plays. I wouldn't risk anybody in the Oldham game

Has anybody else noticed?
we now have 11 days until we play the next Super League game
this is enough time to bring in new recruits and get them trained and playing part of the plays. I wouldn't risk anybody in the Oldham gameTHEMANOFSTEEL

Has anybody else noticed? we now have 11 days until we play the next Super League game this is enough time to bring in new recruits and get them trained and playing part of the plays. I wouldn't risk anybody in the Oldham game

Score: 8

axelf1963 says...11:28am Mon 31 Mar 14

Oldham will win

Oldham will winaxelf1963

Oldham will win

Score: -28

kaye82 says...12:27pm Mon 31 Mar 14

Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bulls

Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bullskaye82

Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bulls

Score: 17

axelf1963 says...12:57pm Mon 31 Mar 14

Remind me where Widnes finished last year ?

Remind me where Widnes finished last year ?axelf1963

Remind me where Widnes finished last year ?

Score: -22

Thee Voice of Reason says...1:16pm Mon 31 Mar 14

kaye82 wrote…

Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bulls

Reading a little bit much into that. Bradford beat Leyton Orient this weekend but doesn't mean Bradford are far the top three. Problem is the run of games coming up. If this mess had been sorted Hull KR, Widnes, could have been places to nick a few points. Now the club has been sorted to an extent with regards to ownership Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield & Catalan are coming up back to back. It would have actually been better playing these teams first when the club were in dire straights as they were unlikely to get anything out of them anyhow. Anyway we can but hope, as thats what keeps us coming back.

[quote][p][bold]kaye82[/bold] wrote:
Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bulls[/p][/quote]Reading a little bit much into that. Bradford beat Leyton Orient this weekend but doesn't mean Bradford are far the top three.
Problem is the run of games coming up. If this mess had been sorted Hull KR, Widnes, could have been places to nick a few points. Now the club has been sorted to an extent with regards to ownership Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield & Catalan are coming up back to back.
It would have actually been better playing these teams first when the club were in dire straights as they were unlikely to get anything out of them anyhow.
Anyway we can but hope, as thats what keeps us coming back.Thee Voice of Reason

kaye82 wrote…

Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bulls

Reading a little bit much into that. Bradford beat Leyton Orient this weekend but doesn't mean Bradford are far the top three. Problem is the run of games coming up. If this mess had been sorted Hull KR, Widnes, could have been places to nick a few points. Now the club has been sorted to an extent with regards to ownership Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield & Catalan are coming up back to back. It would have actually been better playing these teams first when the club were in dire straights as they were unlikely to get anything out of them anyhow. Anyway we can but hope, as thats what keeps us coming back.

Score: 0

raisemeup says...3:03pm Mon 31 Mar 14

Thee Voice of Reason wrote…

kaye82 wrote…

Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bulls

Reading a little bit much into that. Bradford beat Leyton Orient this weekend but doesn't mean Bradford are far the top three. Problem is the run of games coming up. If this mess had been sorted Hull KR, Widnes, could have been places to nick a few points. Now the club has been sorted to an extent with regards to ownership Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield & Catalan are coming up back to back. It would have actually been better playing these teams first when the club were in dire straights as they were unlikely to get anything out of them anyhow. Anyway we can but hope, as thats what keeps us coming back.

Yes true TVOR . The sad fact is that our efforts are as nothing until we get away from the bottom of the pile, minus 1. However as the saying goes "We have only one way to go from here" ie the only way is up...so let's help them to roll up their sleeves and beat teams against the odds ! COYB

[quote][p][bold]Thee Voice of Reason[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]kaye82[/bold] wrote:
Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bulls[/p][/quote]Reading a little bit much into that. Bradford beat Leyton Orient this weekend but doesn't mean Bradford are far the top three.
Problem is the run of games coming up. If this mess had been sorted Hull KR, Widnes, could have been places to nick a few points. Now the club has been sorted to an extent with regards to ownership Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield & Catalan are coming up back to back.
It would have actually been better playing these teams first when the club were in dire straights as they were unlikely to get anything out of them anyhow.
Anyway we can but hope, as thats what keeps us coming back.[/p][/quote]Yes true TVOR . The sad fact is that our efforts are as nothing until we get away from the bottom of the pile, minus 1.
However as the saying goes "We have only one way to go from here" ie the only way is up...so let's help them to roll up their sleeves and beat teams against the odds !
COYBraisemeup

Thee Voice of Reason wrote…

kaye82 wrote…

Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bulls

Reading a little bit much into that. Bradford beat Leyton Orient this weekend but doesn't mean Bradford are far the top three. Problem is the run of games coming up. If this mess had been sorted Hull KR, Widnes, could have been places to nick a few points. Now the club has been sorted to an extent with regards to ownership Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield & Catalan are coming up back to back. It would have actually been better playing these teams first when the club were in dire straights as they were unlikely to get anything out of them anyhow. Anyway we can but hope, as thats what keeps us coming back.

Yes true TVOR . The sad fact is that our efforts are as nothing until we get away from the bottom of the pile, minus 1. However as the saying goes "We have only one way to go from here" ie the only way is up...so let's help them to roll up their sleeves and beat teams against the odds ! COYB

Score: 9

Thee Voice of Reason says...3:22pm Mon 31 Mar 14

raisemeup wrote…

Thee Voice of Reason wrote…

kaye82 wrote…

Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bulls

Reading a little bit much into that. Bradford beat Leyton Orient this weekend but doesn't mean Bradford are far the top three. Problem is the run of games coming up. If this mess had been sorted Hull KR, Widnes, could have been places to nick a few points. Now the club has been sorted to an extent with regards to ownership Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield & Catalan are coming up back to back. It would have actually been better playing these teams first when the club were in dire straights as they were unlikely to get anything out of them anyhow. Anyway we can but hope, as thats what keeps us coming back.

Yes true TVOR . The sad fact is that our efforts are as nothing until we get away from the bottom of the pile, minus 1. However as the saying goes "We have only one way to go from here" ie the only way is up...so let's help them to roll up their sleeves and beat teams against the odds ! COYB

The problem is the only way isn't up. It's down, because of the joker Khan he didn't bother to try put anything right and now in a relegation year, the club are in a worse position than ever.

[quote][p][bold]raisemeup[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]Thee Voice of Reason[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]kaye82[/bold] wrote: Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bulls[/p][/quote]Reading a little bit much into that. Bradford beat Leyton Orient this weekend but doesn't mean Bradford are far the top three. Problem is the run of games coming up. If this mess had been sorted Hull KR, Widnes, could have been places to nick a few points. Now the club has been sorted to an extent with regards to ownership Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield & Catalan are coming up back to back. It would have actually been better playing these teams first when the club were in dire straights as they were unlikely to get anything out of them anyhow. Anyway we can but hope, as thats what keeps us coming back.[/p][/quote]Yes true TVOR . The sad fact is that our efforts are as nothing until we get away from the bottom of the pile, minus 1. However as the saying goes "We have only one way to go from here" ie the only way is up...so let's help them to roll up their sleeves and beat teams against the odds ! COYB[/p][/quote]The problem is the only way isn't up. It's down, because of the joker Khan he didn't bother to try put anything right and now in a relegation year, the club are in a worse position than ever.Thee Voice of Reason

raisemeup wrote…

Thee Voice of Reason wrote…

kaye82 wrote…

Widnes are at the top of there game we showed we can compete with them with a under strenth team come on u bulls

Reading a little bit much into that. Bradford beat Leyton Orient this weekend but doesn't mean Bradford are far the top three. Problem is the run of games coming up. If this mess had been sorted Hull KR, Widnes, could have been places to nick a few points. Now the club has been sorted to an extent with regards to ownership Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield & Catalan are coming up back to back. It would have actually been better playing these teams first when the club were in dire straights as they were unlikely to get anything out of them anyhow. Anyway we can but hope, as thats what keeps us coming back.

Yes true TVOR . The sad fact is that our efforts are as nothing until we get away from the bottom of the pile, minus 1. However as the saying goes "We have only one way to go from here" ie the only way is up...so let's help them to roll up their sleeves and beat teams against the odds ! COYB

The problem is the only way isn't up. It's down, because of the joker Khan he didn't bother to try put anything right and now in a relegation year, the club are in a worse position than ever.

Score: 4

bartsbull says...3:40pm Mon 31 Mar 14

The team played well some bad missed tackles let us down but the undoubted spirit is there for all to see the official once again were bad how can the in goal touch judge not see a dropped ball. We need to bolster the squad asap at least two big props are required but we also need to put a strong team out on Sunday. Oldham are not coming to make up the numbers many clubs have fallen foul of not playing a strong team We need to go as far as we can in the cup it brings money in the longer you are there the more you get but we do need the etra players and this game would be ideal for tem to play in

The team played well some bad missed tackles let us down but the undoubted spirit is there for all to see the official once again were bad how can the in goal touch judge not see a dropped ball.
We need to bolster the squad asap at least two big props are required but we also need to put a strong team out on Sunday.
Oldham are not coming to make up the numbers many clubs have fallen foul of not playing a strong team
We need to go as far as we can in the cup it brings money in the longer you are there the more you get but we do need the etra players and this game would be ideal for tem to play inbartsbull

The team played well some bad missed tackles let us down but the undoubted spirit is there for all to see the official once again were bad how can the in goal touch judge not see a dropped ball. We need to bolster the squad asap at least two big props are required but we also need to put a strong team out on Sunday. Oldham are not coming to make up the numbers many clubs have fallen foul of not playing a strong team We need to go as far as we can in the cup it brings money in the longer you are there the more you get but we do need the etra players and this game would be ideal for tem to play in

Score: 5

fedupwiththeBS says...4:14pm Mon 31 Mar 14

Still no news on players coming in. there are players in the Championship that we could buy as most have a SL release clause in their contracts. I fear the real reason is that we yet again a pot less owner; best offer for Wilson but not the Club. there is only so much punishment we can ask our small squad to take week in week out before the injuries start to mount.

Still no news on players coming in. there are players in the Championship that we could buy as most have a SL release clause in their contracts.
I fear the real reason is that we yet again a pot less owner; best offer for Wilson but not the Club.
there is only so much punishment we can ask our small squad to take week in week out before the injuries start to mount.fedupwiththeBS

Still no news on players coming in. there are players in the Championship that we could buy as most have a SL release clause in their contracts. I fear the real reason is that we yet again a pot less owner; best offer for Wilson but not the Club. there is only so much punishment we can ask our small squad to take week in week out before the injuries start to mount.

Score: 10

raisemeup says...6:56pm Mon 31 Mar 14

From what I have seen and heard about the Widnes game a possible draw was on the cards> If that had have been the case maybe we would have felt a lot better about our current situation? However having listened to that totally unbiased commentator on Boots n All. Paul Cullen, who extolled the virtues of Widnes whilst once again spending very little of his infinite wisdom telling all the Bulls viewers what a circus we had or still were. Aren't sports commentators supposed to be even handed and unbiased??

From what I have seen and heard about the Widnes game a possible draw was on the cards> If that had have been the case maybe we would have felt a lot better about our current situation?
However having listened to that totally unbiased commentator on Boots n All.
Paul Cullen, who extolled the virtues of Widnes whilst once again spending very little of his infinite wisdom telling all the Bulls viewers what a circus we had or still were.
Aren't sports commentators supposed to be even handed and unbiased??raisemeup

From what I have seen and heard about the Widnes game a possible draw was on the cards> If that had have been the case maybe we would have felt a lot better about our current situation? However having listened to that totally unbiased commentator on Boots n All. Paul Cullen, who extolled the virtues of Widnes whilst once again spending very little of his infinite wisdom telling all the Bulls viewers what a circus we had or still were. Aren't sports commentators supposed to be even handed and unbiased??

Score: 3

axelf1963 says...9:12pm Mon 31 Mar 14

Oh my brother axle is not in a good mood again must be something to do with him been spoilt as a child.

Oh my brother axle is not in a good mood again must be something to do with him been spoilt as a child.axelf1963

Oh my brother axle is not in a good mood again must be something to do with him been spoilt as a child.

Not a word yet from Marc Green. Why is he hiding away? With Sutcliffe gone & Olbison looking likely to miss at least 3 games, as well as Diskin & Sidlow out for 3 more, it is hard to see where the next win is coming from. The Oldham game should be a straightforward training run, but unless the Bulls are on guard it could be a banana skin. Will Cummins name his strongest side or focus on the massive clash with Salford a week later? If that game is lost, the top flight future of the club will be in serious jeopardy.

Not a word yet from Marc Green. Why is he hiding away?
With Sutcliffe gone & Olbison looking likely to miss at least 3 games, as well as Diskin & Sidlow out for 3 more, it is hard to see where the next win is coming from.
The Oldham game should be a straightforward training run, but unless the Bulls are on guard it could be a banana skin. Will Cummins name his strongest side or focus on the massive clash with Salford a week later?
If that game is lost, the top flight future of the club will be in serious jeopardy.BierleyBoy

Not a word yet from Marc Green. Why is he hiding away? With Sutcliffe gone & Olbison looking likely to miss at least 3 games, as well as Diskin & Sidlow out for 3 more, it is hard to see where the next win is coming from. The Oldham game should be a straightforward training run, but unless the Bulls are on guard it could be a banana skin. Will Cummins name his strongest side or focus on the massive clash with Salford a week later? If that game is lost, the top flight future of the club will be in serious jeopardy.

Score: 1

Thee Voice of Reason says...11:08pm Mon 31 Mar 14

The club needs all the funds it can get, and with a number of Super League teams going out in the cup due to all super league ties a cup run could be on the cards. With a nice draw and one off games progression is possible and hopefully a bit of sunshine on what has just been constant rain.

The club needs all the funds it can get, and with a number of Super League teams going out in the cup due to all super league ties a cup run could be on the cards.
With a nice draw and one off games progression is possible and hopefully a bit of sunshine on what has just been constant rain.Thee Voice of Reason

The club needs all the funds it can get, and with a number of Super League teams going out in the cup due to all super league ties a cup run could be on the cards. With a nice draw and one off games progression is possible and hopefully a bit of sunshine on what has just been constant rain.

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